The Rest, Inside Out
by TheLiteratureLieutenant
Summary: Taking place after the events of Inside Out, Riley and her family continue to adapt to the city. SPOILERS in the first chapter, so unless you don't plan on watching the movie, I recommend buying the movie before reading.
1. Chapter 1

The night that Riley broke down and almost ran away, everything was quiet. The emotions stared at the new island, sporting the general accommodations from Family Island, while rocking the general landmarks of San Francisco.

The emotions decided to dub it... well... Family Island. It was still revolved around family, nothing was changed. The only difference was it had a bit of the crisis prior to the breakdown involved. Adding chocolate to a cookie still makes it a cookie. While it's not the best analogy of the situation, this is an important time in Riley's life, and even if it is sad, she should still embrace the very fact that she came through it all and focus on how great everything will be again.

Sadness and Joy were back at the console, now watching what limited view Riley had, as her face was still burrowed in her mother's shoulder.

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Joy's thoughts:

Staring at the screen, I begin to realize how important, well, EVERYTHING is. Sure, I'm aware that Sadness is actually very important, but now I realize that I've been cutting off everyone in any way I could. Sure, Riley could do with trying to keep her head high at some points, but she had the right to express her anger or disgust as well.

So, now I realize, balance is everything, and from any viewpoint, trying to be happy right now will not be right for Riley. Then again, it doesn't feel right to be sad, either. If Riley is sad all the time, her parents will get worried. Then again, this could be a prejudice against Sadness. I guess we'll just have to go with the flow.

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Riley's thoughts:

Over the past half hour, I have pondered one thing in my mind: Why? What force drove me to run away? Going back to Minnesota wasn't going to fix anything, especially since my parents were such a big part in my life to begin with. I feel awful now, and only now do I realize I never apologized.

My face met my father's, and I noted the baggy eyes and ruffled hair. It's interesting how only now do I understand how the move was taking it's toll on my parents just as much as it was on me. "I..." I tried, but my throat got caught halfway.

"Shh," my father said, and preceded to hug harder and snugger than ever before. I continued to cry for the sake of the relief that followed it. It seems like ages since I last cried, but I suppose that's only because of the events that have followed the actual last time I cried. I have, on a whim, decided that I hate that school; I hate San Fran, and I miss Minnesota... I guess that's life.

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Sadness' thoughts:

It feels weird, touching these buttons. It almost feels like this is my first time at the console, but I know this isn't true. I touched these buttons long before Anger thrust forward his signature handlebars or Disgust vomited over a stray cat. Yet, there's this new feeling to them, almost like the console has changed since I last used it.

I feel much more satisfaction in fulfilling what Riley really wants, what she really needs in her life every now and again. Maybe this is why Joy is always so happy, considering her purpose is to make Riley happy. I guess Joy is, in some way, selfish about all of this. I suppose that's not what she thinks about it, though, and considers herself to be doing what's best for Riley.

It almost reminds me of this movie Riley watched once when she was younger; I think it was called Toy Story or something. There's this huge misunderstanding, the two most important things in a kid's life get thrown into a new strange world, and have to make a treacherous journey back... hmm... Never mind that; it's probably just a coincidence.

I need to focus on the console.

"Okay, I think Riley needs to at least be happy enough to say sorry," Joy cut in, trying her best to delicately manage the situation. I then understand that Riley is attempting to apologize, but I guess I've been making her cry too much, maybe. After all, it's been about five to ten minutes, so I think Riley's been cried out. I sub-consciously side-stepped to the right and let Joy push a button or two.

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Riley's thoughts:

You know what, I have to stop crying and at least apologize to my parents; maybe then I can cry a little more.

I pull my head up to face both my parents. "I... I'm sorry," I say, still partially choking. My parents bring me back into the embrace.

"Honey," my mother started, "the move here has been difficult on all of us. We understand what was going on when you wanted to go back, and we're sorry that we weren't there for you when you were down. I guess we need to realize our baby girl is growing up and that we need to be serious sometimes. How about you lay down and we'll call off school tomorrow?"

"But mom-"

"It's okay. We'll help you with the late homework. We're just so sorry that it came to this." I stood there and, sniffling, I slowly climbed the steps to my room and lay down, settling myself in my bag. I wait, and I wait, and finally, I see the door open.

My parents walk in and sit gently by my side. "Remember, monkey, we love you," my father said, leaning in for a kiss on the forehead.

"Goodnight, baby," my mother said, and as both my parents stood up and walked out, I already felt drowsy... maybe... tomorrow will be better...

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 **A/N: Hi. You probably don't remember me, but I had a story called 'The Rest, Inside Out' on the fan fiction site a really long time ago. Well, I took it down because I was having trouble writing, but now I ready to come back to it. I merged the Prologue and Chapter 1 together, since the two were very short. After that, I'll just be doing some spell checks in the future chapters. As I'm going through an important time in my life, I love to value my vast skill set, and it's only right that I refine each skill equally. One of those skills is writing, so here I am, back in action. Chapters will come out when they can, so be patient. I suggest reading stuff by Steveles. He's a very good writer, and I like to brainstorm with his ideas as a base, so please read his works while I'm out. I think that's all, so... uh... Ciao, I guess. (God, that sounds forced.)**


	2. Chapter 2

Sadness' thoughts:

"Okay, people," Joy started with her enthusiastic voice, "after the events of today I've decided that I need to allow more control of Riley's life between all of us. That's why I've decided," Joy pulls a whiteboard out of nowhere, "that we will have a balanced scheduling system for dream duty that repeats every five days. Tomorrow, that schedule starts with me," she says, pointing to the board, "then Sadness, then Fear, then Anger, then Disgust. Tonight, though, since this has been a very important day for Riley, I will let Sadness on dream duty. Is that clear with everyone?"

Anger stands up from the couch he was resting on and, for the first time since the crisis, speaks. "Why do we need to do this?"

Joy glides around Anger, finally resting her elbow on his head. "Why don't we need to do this? There's no hurt in letting Sadness run. As long as someone is watching, we're safe."

Anger didn't wish to probe further. "Well, that's good enough for me. I'll see you all tomorrow." Anger sub-consciously stomped up the ramp into the tiny abode that is the emotion's resting home. Joy, Fear, and Disgust closely followed.

Just before walking in, Joy turned her head around, saying, "If you're having trouble, it's okay to come to me. I don't mind waking up tonight. I haven't slept in two days." Joy then walked into the house, stretching tentatively and yawning. I turn back to the screen, where the dream is starting.

Riley is sitting on the bus, much like the one she was on before I fixed everything. The only difference was, this Riley wasn't moving; she simply sat there and stared out the window as the bus rolled through the city.

It was then that a man sat next to her. He wore a black leather coat and dark jeans. Despite the warm weather of San Francisco, the man still shivers. Riley paid no attention to this man other than a quick glance in his direction.

He sat with her as the bus drove from San Francisco to Minnesota. And suddenly, as she walked out of the bus to meet her old home, the man grabbed her and lifted her up, keeping a hand over her mouth to prevent Riley from screaming for help. Riley squirmed and kicked, but to no avail, and the man brought Riley to an abandoned building not far from where they were.

Once inside, Riley begged of the man to let him go, be he would have none of it. He beat her across the face and said mean things about her. Finally, he brought a knife to her throat. At this, Riley screamed with more power than she had ever screamed before.

Suddenly, at this scream, her parents, almost like superheroes, busted the door open and rushed to help. The estranged man attempted to flee from the scene by jumping out the window, but dad catches him and throws him against the wall; he's knocked out, cold. Mom instantly called 911 from her cell and explained the situation, and after disclosing the address of the area, rushes to Riley to investigate the damage.

Riley had a black eye, some bruises, and a minor cut on her throat where the man put a knife to it. Mom speeds to heal the cut, fussing over the wraps she found in a first aid kit not far down the hall.

After all is done, she hugs Riley like she was what kept her alive. The father soon joins the hug and the three are now huddled on the floor of the abandoned apartment, exchanging their warmth through the long-drawn hug.

The police soon arrive after this, along with an ambulance to check on Riley's injuries to see if they go any further than a cut or bruise. The man is apprehended and Riley is carried off on a stretcher, despite being able to walk herself. Her parents are both on their knees, stretcher-side to Riley, once she is settled in the ambulance.

"Honey," her mother starts gently, "You had us worried. We called the school, then the police, and, we figured you'd gone back to Minnesota. We followed you and when we saw that man take you, we were so far away, we thought that we were too late when we came in. We're so sorry we ever did this to you, Riley." Her mother then breaks up and starts crying into her husbands shoulder.

The image of her mother crying blurred and the colors mixed and mixed until... Riley awoke. She opened her eyes to find her parents, squatting down to meet her eyes. They looked very worried, and from what Riley can see, it was late in the night.

"You were having a bad dream. We didn't notice until you started screaming. We rushed in as soon as we could and," Mom wiped a few tears from her eyes, "we're sorry this is having such an impact on you. We," a few more tears, "know how you feel right now and, um," she paused, "just try to go back to sleep. I want my baby girl getting as much sleep as she can."

Mom leaned in to kiss Riley on the forehead, followed by her father, and soon they were out the door. It didn't take long for Riley to fall asleep again, and soon, I was alone as Dream Productions seems to have had enough fun for one night and has kept quiet. I can't believe they gave up on dreams tonight. I can't just let Riley sleep with no dreams. Well, there is this thing I saw Joy do once.

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Sadness pushed a few buttons on the console. Instantly, the memory with the twisted tree popped into her hands. "I think she did this..." she said, sliding her finger across the surface until the color turned from golden to blue. She then let it levitate into place, where it was projected into Riley's dream. Sadness watched as Riley sat alone on the branch of the twisted tree.

It was the day that the Prairie Dogs lost; when Riley missed the winning shot. Afterward, she felt awful about it and it almost drove her to quit hockey all-together. Shortly after the memory started, her parents climbed up onto the branch where Riley sat, and cuddled up with her. There was a minute of silence, and as time ticked slowly by, Sadness saw how truly solemn the silence was.

Soon, though, a cheer erupted from behind the tree. Riley and her parents all got down and went around, where the rest of the team picked Riley up and cheered for her; cheered for trying. The cheering kept on for another minute, then, the memory faded to a stop and Riley was awake again. This time, looking at the clock, it read 7:00, and Riley has to get ready for the day.

Sadness went upstairs to wake up the other emotions, and when she opened the front door, Joy fell forward onto her face. It was clear she was eavesdropping in the middle of the night and fell asleep.

"Hi, Joy," Sadness said, "uh, I see you were checking up on me."

Joy looked up, terrified that she was caught in the act. "Well, you know, it was your first night, and I was just trying to be alert for when – if you needed help."

Sadness only shook her head and walked back to the console. "Wake the others for me, please." Joy was then left facing the floor, wondering if what she did was right. It wasn't.

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 **Hey again. It feels great coming back to this series. I only want to say that the current chapters that have already been written will come out every other week, so as to give me breathing room. After that, the chapters will be released when they are written. Thanks for reading! Again, check out some of Steevele's works, and if you're done with his stories, I also suggest PotterPhantomKitten. I love both of these authors and I read their stories all the time.**


	3. Chapter 3

Joy's thoughts:

No, no, no. I can't believe I let myself do that. What's the point of letting Sadness control if you're going to baby over her? I need to apologize, but already, Sadness is moving Riley to the kitchen table to eat breakfast.

Surprisingly, the only bit of Sadness in Riley now is being shown in her walk. She lets her arms hang to the sides, swinging front to back as she sauntered down the steps. I guess I need to realize that Sadness can take care of Riley for prolonged periods of time, so long as she's given prolonged periods of time to practice with? It's an interesting concept, but a concept none-the-less.

Right now, though, I need to wake the others before Sadness is the only one controlling at schoo- wait, no, Riley is staying home today. Okay, but I still need to wake the others.

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Joy walked through the hallway of the seemingly small house; it's actually very large, thanks to a little magic from Imagination Land.

Joy first walked past her bedroom, the door hanging open, showing the contents of the room. It's pretty small, but despite this, Joy has put the most extravagant bed to her imagination in this room. The sides of the four-post meet with the sides of the wall, so Joy literally has to climb in through the front of the bed to sleep. Other than that and a few motivational posters, the room is pretty bare; Joy never saw reason in fully decorating a room that was ONLY used for sleep.

Next, there was Anger's room. Joy opened the door and surveyed the room. Anger was fast asleep in his bed, a small white modern bed, matching Anger's sort of business attire. Off to the side is a punching bag, and it seems every time Joy sees it, there's a different face on it. Right now, the face belonged to Riley. Joy was no fan of the decor, but ignored it anyway.

"Anger, Anger, Riley's awake." Anger slowly got out of bed and, rubbing his eyes, walked out the room, into the hallway, and out of the abode to meet Sadness at the console.

Joy moved forward. Next was Fear's room. Much to Joy's surprise, Fear's room was actually kind of scary. On the side of the room lay a shelf, on which hung a collection of different guns, probably for self-defense, Fear might reason. She looked at Fear himself, who looked to be curved in a fetal position, likely having a nightmare about the previous night.

"Fear, wake up, Riley's awake." Fear instantly shot out of bed.

"RILEY NEEDS ME!" He screamed, rushing down the hall to the console.

Joy finally came to Disgust's room, but before she even was at the door, it was opened by Disgust.

"Don't worry, the purple spastic woke me up." She then walked slowly out into Headquarters.

Joy was about to leave with her, but turned around. She looked at Sadness' door, and suddenly realized she's never actually been inside her room before. Thanks to her curiosity, Joy walked into Sadness' room. Inside, Sadness has done nothing to the room, only kept the bed that she got when she first came to Headquarters. Weirdly, this is probably the most depressing thing Joy could see in a room. Sure, she didn't like to decorate too much, but it's your room. It's your sanctuary, a place where you can express yourself like no other.

Joy sighed and turned around, only to see Sadness now standing in the doorway.

"I see you don't like the room," Sadness asked, her sad blue eyes piercing into Joy's soul.

"Um, well, I don't know, I just think it's a little bare, that's all. Nothing a few posters and a lamp couldn't fix," Joy said, plastering a fake smile on her face. "I mean, don't you want to tell people, 'this is my room, and you can tell because of this?'" Sadness stared at the floor for a second, then looked up.

"Well, isn't the lack of personalization in my room personalization enough?"

Joy sighed, gripping the bridge of her nose to cease the oncoming headache. "That's not the point, Sadness. It's fun to decorate, to add a little of yourself to it. For instance, you could have a bedside table and have on it, get this, a teardrop sculpture made of crystal. Doesn't that sound cool?"

Sadness only pondered for a moment and, finally getting an answer, looked up. "I guess that's pretty cool, but can't that crystal be used for other things? Maybe when we're old, we can have Crystal Figurine Castle in Imagination Land."

Joy sighed. Nothing was going to convince Sadness to decorate and, honestly, that's her problem. She's missing out on all the cool things that she could do; Joy silently wished that Sadness could have a little more fun in her life, but that's her, and she'll leave it at that. "Come on," Joy said, "the last time we left those three on their own, Riley nearly ran away." Joy chuckled at this, but is it really worth laughing about?

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Fear's thoughts:

I MUST PROTECT RILEY! I made a huge mistake, letting Anger pull off that idea, and I need to make up for it. That's it; from now on, any crack in the sidewalk, no matter how small, I will be twice as cautious when dealing with. I will not let Riley get into any possible danger! Okay, so what's happening? Riley's eating breakfast, okay. That's pretty safe. Wait, what about the nutritional facts? What if there's something dangerous in... Frosted Flakes? I mean, who knows what awful things are in that frosting? I'm just going to sneak a quick peek.

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Fear pushes a few buttons on the console and watches as his magic unfolds. Riley pauses from eating her cereal and looks at the nutritional facts on the side of the box.

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Riley's thoughts:

Okay, milled corn, that sounds healthy. Wait, what's High Fructose Corn Syrup? It sounds dangerous, but I've definitely seen it on a lot of things before. Uh oh, what's Ascorbic Acid? Isn't eating any sort of acid super dangerous? Hmm, how about I get some toast instead.

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Riley gets up from the table, carrying her half-eaten bowl of Frosted Flakes, and rinses it out in the sink. She then gets some bread out of the pantry and puts it into the toaster, then waits, and then waits...

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Anger's thoughts:

Wait, what? What does Fear think he's doing? We were just enjoying a nice nutritious breakfast and now we're eating crumbly toast. Ugh, it's not even good bread. I mean, who buys OAT bread but doesn't get white?

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Anger lunges for Fear from where he's standing and is this close to punching him right in his giant, temptingly punchable nose, but Joy, Sadness and Disgust collectively hold his fist back. Anger struggles to free his arm, but to no avail. Anger stands up and straightens his tie. "Why do I even work with you people?" He then storms off to the back to ponder what time in the night he'll attack Fear.

"This is why I don't like to leave you guys alone," Joy explains. "There's always something for you three to fight about, and soon, Riley has no one watching her." She glides towards the console and pushes a few buttons, just as the toast pops up, toasted. Riley pulls the toast out, puts it on a plate, and butters it. "Fear, you do realize that anything mom and dad would get probably isn't dangerous for us, right?"

"But there's ACID in it."

"There's citric acid in lemons and oranges."

"But we're talking about an acid we've never seen before. Ascorbic acid, I think it was called." Joy merely rolled her eyes and turned back to the console, where Riley is now biting into her toast.

"You know what, toast does taste a lot better than Frosted Flakes," Joy reasoned.

Anger spoke up from the backroom "COME ON, JOY! THEY'RE FROSTED FLAKES, FOR FUCK'S SAKE!" Joy simply pretended to not hear that and watched as Riley put her plate in the sink.

Her parents were off getting the absent homework from the school for Riley to do that day, so Riley was home alone temporarily. Joy pushed a few buttons, ushering Riley to find something interesting on Netflix. Riley rushed upstairs into her room and got on her computer. She signed into the family account and looked around for a good movie.

"You know, we haven't seen Ghost-busters yet, how about we watch that?" Joy reasoned with the other emotions.

"Ghosts? Why would anyone make a movie about ghosts?" Fear spoke up, cowering beside the console, chewing the little bits of nail he's allowed himself to grow.

"Come on, Fear. The effects are so outdated, I'd expect you to laugh, had we watched it. Seriously, though, let's not watch something that's older than our parents. Ooh, what about That 70's Show? It takes place in the 70's, but it's recorded in the 2000's. Everyone at our school is watching it!"

Joy typed on a keyboard embedded into the console, "Come on, Disgust, you need to be a little more specific than tha- oh. It's actually called That 70's Show. That's misleading."

Fear didn't even read the title without looking for the rating,"Wait, it's TV-14. Isn't that a little inappropriate for us?"

Disgust groans,"Fear, shut your mouth, I don't want to watch a baby show. Riley's growing up, and she needs to act it."

"Calm down, you two. I'm sure it's fine." Joy pushed a few buttons and the pilot episode started. "You know, I always wondered why they call it a pilot episode," Joy said, rubbing her chin between her thumb and index finger.

Anger, after having a temper tantrum in the backroom, finally is present among the others,"Nobody knows, Joy. It's business talk for first episode."

Disgust pipes up, "Shh, the episode's starting."

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Riley's thoughts:

(Beginning drum solo) Okay, so far, I like the music.

" _Eric, it is time," a curly-haired teen says in the direction of a scrawny teen, presumably Eric._

" _Why don't you do it?" Eric replies in the direction of the curly-haired teen._

" _It's your house," starts the curly-haired teen._

" _Your house," Ashton Kutcher echoes._

" _Listen to them up there," curly-hair takes a breath, "The party has reached critical mass. In 10 minutes, there will be No. More. Beer opportunities." A laugh-track plays_

Ugh, a laugh-track? I thought this show had taste. Hmm, but it sounds interesting so far. I'll let it slide.

" _If my dad catches me copping beers, he'll kill me," Eric states._

 _Curly-hair pats his hand onto Eric's foreleg. "I am willing to take that risk," curly-hair says._

Ha, that's pretty good.

" _Don't worry about it," Ashton Kutcher starts, "Just remain calm, keep moving-"_

" _And above all, don't get sucked into my dad's hair," the teenage girl in the group spoke up._

" _What's wrong with your dad's hair?" Eric asks._

" _Just, don't, uh, look at it," the girl replies._

 _Curly-hair stands up and grabs Eric by the head. "And Eric. Cold! Definitely cold!"_

 _Eric and Curly-hair exchange looks for a minute, then they both nod and Eric retreats upstairs._

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The episode continues like that, and before they know it, it's over, and the credits are playing. Anger's the first one to talk. "Jeez, I can't believe how much of a _bitch_ Jackie is!"

"Are you kidding me? Jackie is my type of person," says Disgust, "I mean, I'm sure the shirt and jeans were popular in the 70's, and she can chew out Ashton Kutcher like no other."

"Honestly, I like Eric," says Fear, "Well, at least for the first part, when he was at least somewhat obedient to his dad."

"Oh, his dad is amazing. I've never seen a better character," Anger says. "I like when he pretends he's having a good family moment with Eric, and then tells him to clean the attic. That is priceless."

"Well, I thought it was very funny," Joy said, having connected to no one in particular, except maybe Eric's mother. "What about you, Sadness? What did you like?"

Sadness thought for a second. "I liked the bit where Eric almost cried after taking the beers." Joy frowned. This was not the point of entertainment. It's supposed to make you happy, and it's apparently not good enough to help Sadness.

The other three continue to talk about the show as Joy looks, disappointed, at Sadness. "Is this about this morning? I was hoping you would start to get over it and enjoy things."

"I don't know, Joy, what if I mess up enjoying things and hurt Riley?" Sadness asks sarcastically, glaring at Joy with a mix of unhappiness and frustration.

"Um, look, I'm sorry, Sadness. I should have trusted you more, but when Riley started screaming, I thought you'd done something wrong and listened for more. I didn't hear anything and fell asleep against the door soon afterward. I'm sorry I didn't trust you like I should have."

Joy was now frowning more than ever that day; more than that morning; even more than when the three others started fighting. She knew what it meant to Sadness when she was given control, only to have it secretly taken away. It's like giving candy to a baby, then stealing it when the baby isn't looking. Of course, Joy never thought of Sadness as a baby, though she does cry a little more than average, but the point is, Joy is at fault here, and she hopes the apology will be enough for Sadness.

Joy smiled, "I'll try to leave you to your work on Friday."

Sadness' glare softened, and she looked at the floor, only to start crying. "I shouldn't have been so mean about it. I'm sorry," Sadness said, choking slightly.

"Hey, hey," Joy knelt down and hugged the depressed emotion, "It's not your fault, Sadness. I shouldn't have been so constricting. You had the right to be mad at me. Now we're going to go back to the console and help Riley help her parents help Riley with her homework, okay?"

Sadness looked back up at Joy. "Okay." At this, Joy and Sadness move their attention back to the argument the other three emotions were currently partaking in.

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 **Hello again. This is the third chapter, so I'm happy to say we're finally getting back into the bigger chapters. Until chapter 7, all of my chapters will be especially long, but they will begin to level off, hopefully in the 2k to 3k word range. Anyway, I believe that's everything, so read Steeveles, read PotterPhantomKitten, and also check out Lord CandyCane. I especially like his series called Kid's World. It's pretty self-explanatory, but it's a fun read and has a pretty sizable length. Suggest some authors in the community for me if you want me to give a sort of synopsis on their works, which will be in another series, mind you. That will roll around with chapter 4, so give your favorite series of IO fan fiction, and I will briefly review it. If it's a long series, don't expect it to come out the week you suggest it, but I'll try and release it when I can.**


	4. Chapter 4

"Are you kidding me?! Jackie is SO much better. One, she isn't bald," Disgust states, counting off of her fingers, "because that is totally gross. Two, she isn't an old man who takes pleasure in torturing his own son. Speaking of which, Eric is a creep AND a wimp. I wonder if he gets it from his dad, or if it's beaten into him." Disgust and Anger were having an argument over who is better, while Fear stands by and takes the hate for liking Eric.

Joy wasn't having this, so she quickly tries to change the topic. "But what about Kelso, eh? You can't deny that Ashton Kutcher looked great 15 years ago," she said, quickly pulling up a memory of Kelso from the show.

"Joy, he was literally classified as 'a whore.' I don't know what that is, but it sounds like it might give you bad publicity."

"Let me give you a hint; he gets it from his girlfriend," Anger quips, despite not knowing what a whore is either.

Disgust gasps, shocked. "How about we look that up before we realize it's a compliment?"

"Already on it," Joy says, pushing a few buttons and spinning a handlebar.

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Riley, now strangely puzzled by a certain word, brings up a new tab and types in "whore." Riley clicks on the top search result and heads to the Merriam-Webster website.

 _Definition of WHORE_

 **1**

 **:** a woman who engages in sexual acts for money; an immoral woman

 **2**

 **:** a male who engages in sexual acts for money

 **3**

: anyone online who disagrees with you

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Riley's thoughts:

Well, that's an interesting word.

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"YOU'RE A WHORE!"

"NO, YOU'RE A WHORE!"

Anger and Disgust were now going off on each other in a fury. Eventually, after a few rounds of this, Anger's flames burst out in a blaze of glory and make another burn in the ceiling. Once he's finished burning his frustration off, he looks guiltily at Joy. "Oh, uh, sorry about that, Joy. I know how you feel about swear words. And, uh, the burn in the ceiling..."

"Don't worry about it, Anger. The mind workers clean up those burns all the time," Joy replied carelessly.

"I know that."

"They don't."

"Huh?"

"Never mind. I think mom and dad are home," Joy says, rushing to the console to avoid the awkwardness caused by the breaking of the 4th wall.

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Riley gets up from her sleeping bag and goes downstairs, where her mom is putting the absent homework on the table and her dad is quietly mumbling over "The awful paperwork it took to retrieve the papers."

"Hey, honey," her mom started, her full attention on Riley, "do you want to start on this?" Mom says, pointing to the work on the table.

"Sure," Riley replies, quick to get it over with and have fun for the rest of the day. Riley walks to the table and sits down, while her parents pull up chairs and sit down.

Riley pulls out her first and favorite subject: Math. "You know, when I was a kid, I hated Math. Despite that, I did it, begrudgingly, of course, and now I run a business and I have a great wife and child," Dad said, quietly reminiscing back to his school days.

"Dad, I like Math," Riley said, chuckling.

"I'd like to hear you say the same thing once you start on Algebra. It's a brain twister," Dad said, emphasizing Algebra with a sort of resentment. Riley simply chuckled again, but quietly wondered what Algebra was.

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"What's Algebra?" Fear was quick to ask, curious yet cautious.

"I'm sure it's nothing," Joy replied, brushing it off entirely. "If Riley likes Math, she'll like Algebra, and I'll be there for her if she needs support."

FAST FORWARD

"AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" screamed Anger.

RESUME

"I don't know. I have a really bad feeling about it," said Anger, rubbing the bit of chin that he could.

"Again, it's nothing, people. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Joy encouraged. "Right now, though, we need to explain Order of Operations."

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Riley looked at the homework and introduced the idea of Order of Operations to her parents, as they never had to learn it when they were in Middle School. "So, they actually made this weird sort of acronym to help remember it: PEMDAS. Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction. This can then be turned into different sentences, like 'Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally.'"

Riley's parents simply looked at her strangely. "I, uh, don't get it, Riley. Why does there have to be an order to it?" Dad simply said, a look of confusion controlling his face.

"Well, you see, let me write down an example," Riley said, grabbing a blank piece of paper and thinking for a second before writing the equation down.

"(6+2)^ 2*(25/5)-7," Riley muttered under her breath as she wrote. **(A quick note: You may not recognize the caret symbol that is between the (6+2) and 2. In a calculator, you need this to add an exponent to a number when the exponent is higher than 2, or 3, in some cases. Since I was unable to use proper squaring, I simply used the caret symbol. I apologize for any confusion. Enjoy education!)**

"Now, do either of you understand what I'm going about here?" Riley eyed her parents with a slight annoyance.

Said parents shook their head in denial.

"Well, you see, if the configuration were actually SADMEP, it would go like this," she said, writing down on the paper.

(6+2)^2*(25/5)-7

(6+2)^2*-2

(6+2)^-4

Riley stopped at this, secretly not knowing what to do in the case of negative exponents. "Now, I'm going to show you the right way." She returned to the paper and wrote down the same equation.

(6+2)^2*(25/5)-7

(8)^2*(5)-7

64*5-7

320-7

313

Riley looked up at her parents, expecting them to understand. "You know, honey. You seem to be capable of this very much by yourself. Your father and I will help you with the other homework when you're done with math," Mom said, clearly confused with what Riley was doing.

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"I can't believe they don't understand. I mean, IT'S RIGHT THERE! Did we not explain it perfectly, Joy?" Anger started, the particles above his head distorting, indicating a future eruption. Joy looked around, trying to find a way not to make her sound too enthusiastic.

"Well, we did our best, and it's a very difficult subject..."

Wrong move.

"IT'S NOT DIFFICULT! THE SECOND RILEY HEARD ABOUT THIS, SHE INSTANTLY UNDERSTOOD! ARE WE SOME SUPERCHILD OR SOMETHING?! ARE MOM AND DAD DUMB?!" Anger was spewing all over the place, finally rushing to the console and ramming forth the handlebars. Luckily, thanks to Riley's Family Island, the response was cushioned.

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Riley groaned, annoyed, at the response. "I thought you were smart!" Riley got up from the table and stormed upstairs, slamming the door behind her as she stomped into her room. She sat down on her sleeping bag and pulled out her computer, willing to start her History paper on The Panama Canal.

"Okay, so Mrs. Smith said that Wikipedia is not a credible source, so how about we settle for National Geographic," Riley quietly reasoned, typing ' ' into the search-bar and looking for any credible information. As she searched, something in the back of her mind was nagging at her.

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"Why did you do that?" Fear panicked. "Now Mom and Dad think we're mad at them."

"Because we are mad at them. That's kind of why I'm here," Anger said proudly.

"Anger, you do realize that you have to keep things fair, and nothing was unfair about it. In fact, you made it extremely unfair for THEM!" Disgust rebutted.

"Guys! Let's try and focus on a solution to this!" Joy said, immeasurably tense.

"Well, I don't know. I think that maybe Riley should make up with her parents," Sadness said softly.

"Are you kidding me? It's their fault they got themselves into this mess! Why do we have to go to them?" Anger fumed, pacing around and giving every other emotion the evil eye.

"Because what we did was wrong. You do realize that it's not their fault Order of Operations is difficult to them, right?" Joy questioned, much less willing to keep up the happy act if it meant that it would only frustrate Anger more.

Anger took a step back, appalled at his sudden realization. "No. No, I can't believe it. What did I do? We need to fix this."

"Already on it," Joy said, yet again, reaching for the console.

Sadness however, held out her arm in front of Joy in a motion to stop. "We need to think about this. We can't go down there, all happy like it's no big deal we called our parents idiots. We could potentially be afraid of the consequences of our actions, but is that a good thing?" Sadness continued to mumble, contemplating the situation. After a good few minutes, Sadness suddenly came to a conclusion.

"Fear, Anger. I want you two at the console to start, to make Riley hate herself, but only because she put herself in this position. Hopefully, if this works, she'll regret the things she said and be more understanding next time she works with another person. I'm going to have to take the wheel slightly for a sincere apology, and I'll need you, Fear, to keep me from taking too much control. Then, the instant Riley apologizes, I want you, Joy, to gently control Riley. It's still not too late, only 10:00 A.M., so we can get this all done today. Does everyone understand?" Everyone was, first off, shocked that Sadness had the strength in her to take lead. No one questioned and, instantly, Fear and Anger were at the console, pushing a myriad of buttons, trying to make Riley regret her decision.

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Riley's thoughts:

Wait, this isn't right. How could I just call Mom and Dad stupid like that? I don't want to upset them. I need to apologize.

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Riley rushed out of her room and was halfway down the stairs when Anger and Sadness switched roles in her head. She continued down the steps, feeling more shame than self-hatred now. "Mom, Dad?" Riley said softly from the bottom of the stairs.

Looking around, Riley spotted both her parents sat on the couch, solemnly snuggling up to each other. It broke Riley's heart that her parents were legitimately hurt by her words, and it made her want to apologize all the more. "I'm... I'm sorry. I didn't mean any of it. I should have been more patient with you two, and it wasn't right what I did. I'm really sorry," Riley caved, rushing to join the embrace between her parents, who silently repositioned to allow Riley into the hug.

Riley almost got a sort of satisfaction from apologizing, and realized that Riley had one last thing to get off of her chest. Still in the embrace, Riley looked up and, with a shameful expression, confessed to her parents. "The night that I almost ran away, I was going to take a bus back to Minnesota. I had to pay for the bus fare, so, um, I took your credit card when you weren't looking, Mom." Riley's parents looked, accepting, at the sincerely regretful expression on Riley's face.

"So, that's where it went. I'm glad that you told us, Riley," Mom said, torn between disappointment or relief. "Do you, by chance, have it on you?" Riley lit up a little at this. "Oh, yeah. It's in my coat pocket. I'll go get it." Riley stood up and rushed to her bedroom, where she had dropped her coat the night before.

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"Good work, everyone," Joy cheered. Everyone was feeling great about pulling the apology off. A core memory popped out of the side of the Headquarters into the travel mechanism. All the emotions stared, awesome, at the 4-colored orb. Red for Anger, yellow for Joy, blue for Sadness, and purple for Fear.

It rolled through, stopping at the splitting point between core memories and regular memories. It then proceeded down the railing, curving under the floor and arriving at the core memory bay. It took it's space as the second core memory and, from it, a new island formed.

Green, rolling hills led up to a courthouse, with several law-related attractions dotting the landscape. Instead of just Honesty Island things, though, there was now something new happening that none of the emotions had ever seen before. Honesty Island shook and slowly started to float towards Family Island, finally fixing itself into place besides it, connected. Soon, new land popped up around Family Island, making it even more massive.

All the emotions stared in awe at the combination of personality islands. Never before had the other personality islands interacted with each other like this. Sadness theorized that it was so one island could fall apart and still be held up by the other islands. At that, nobody argued her point, as it did seem Honestly Island could fail, and Family Island would probably hold it up.

After that, nobody talked, possibly for the same reason it was quiet last night. Everyone kept quiet and silently worked, helping Riley remember where she left her coat. Riley soon found her coat and was back downstairs.

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"Okay, here it is," Riley said simply, handing the card to Mom. She took a look at it and reinserted it into her wallet, then her purse.

"Okay, about money. That trip cost $150 dollars, so you can just pay that back right now. However, you can also choose to not pay back right now, and we'll save your weekly allowance for 15 weeks. As long as your father and I get the money back, we won't hold it against you., okay?" Mom explained casually.

Riley simply nodded and went back to the same coat. "I left about 300 dollars in here to help me get started in Minnesota," she said, pulling out the wad of cash and splitting the money 50/50. She then handed the money to Mom, who took it and put it, like her card, into her wallet, then her purse. "Glad that's behind us," she said calmly. "Now, do you want to get back to your homework?"

Riley nodded and sat herself down at the table again, going over everything that she needed to do (except Math) with her parents. After a lot of difficult Science work, Riley simply had to finish her paper and get a book from the library. "How about we finish Science and the paper, and we can go to the library and pick out a book?" Dad suggested. Riley and her mom agreed with the idea and were soon immersing themselves into the difficult Science work that Mrs. Smith (a different one) had concocted for the emotional pre-teen mind.

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	5. Chapter 5

"Ugh, I don't get Mrs. Smith. I mean, does she hate her students or something?" Disgust complained on the subject of their Science homework.

"Hey, at least Mom and Dad are helping out," Joy says, rejuvenated by the new personality island. "It's so nice of them to help us."

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"So condensation is when the gas form of an element is cooled enough to turn back into water. It's kind of like when you take a shower. The hot water vapor from the hot shower hits the cold surface of the shower door, and it cools back into water," Mom says calmly, trying to not sound bored, but she's almost tuned out herself. "You got that?"

"Yeah, Mom. Condensation is the transition from gas to liquid," Riley summarizes.

"Yep. I can't believe how smart you are! Why is this hard?"

"Mom, it's still difficult. She's always changing subjects. We've been on this for one week, and we'll probably be studying something else next week."

Riley and her parents (mostly Mom) continued working through definitions of transitions and the properties of the PARTICLES in each state. Riley didn't even know what a particle was before she moved to San Francisco, and now she was being forced to learn about them in a week. When they were finally done with the Science homework, Dad decided to take a break and get everyone lunch, winking at Riley knowingly. Everyone had a nice turkey and provolone sandwich for lunch ("It's still oat bread," Anger mumbled,) as well as a variety of chips and snacks.

After lunch, Riley got her computer from upstairs and started to do research with her Mom, as Dad "had to go do important things." Riley and her Mom enjoyed the personal time that came with the research, and when they were done with the research and had even started on the paper, they decided to watch a movie on Netflix. Mom opened up Netflix, signing into the family account, and stopped.

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"OH NO, WE'RE BUSTED!" Fear screams, running around Headquarters in a panic. Anger sighs dejectedly and suspends his fit in Fears path, effectively stopping him and hurting him, to Anger's enjoyment.

"I'm sure we're fine," Joy says.

"I don't know about you, but if Mom's getting in the way of us being cool, I'm going to have to interject," Disgust states plainly, high-heeling to the console and pushing a few buttons.

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"Riley, did you watch this?" Mom says, pointing at the box showing 'That 70's Show.'

"Is that a problem?" Riley says, less questioningly and more insulted.

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"No, no no no. We have to be on Mom's good side, Disgust. We've hurt her enough today," Joy says, pushing a few buttons and swirling a handlebar around.

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Riley has a quick change of heart and shakes her head. "I mean, I only just started watching it, so I can stop. I'm only watching it because a lot of people at my school have been talking about it."

"Well, it's just that I've seen that show, and, well, it's running gag is they all sit around a table and smoke. I just don't like the idea it imposes on people." Mom was clearly worried, so Riley was quick to explain.

"Mom, this takes place in the 70's, so it's long past popular for normal teens anymore. It's mainly there for parody."

"Well, okay. I guess that's fine, then." Mom says, looking at the carpet and thinking about the situation. "Hey, how about Ghostbusters? I don't think you've watched it yet."

"Okay."

Mom puts on Ghostbusters, and the two snuggle up to each other on the couch.

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Joy looked back, a smile on her face, as she noticed neither Fear nor Disgust spoke up. Joy faced back to the screen and watched the movie and, for the first time in days, makes sure Riley is feeling happy.

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Shortly after the movie (which Riley liked, much to Joy's satisfaction,) Riley gets tired and tiredly steps upstairs to her room.

Soon, Dad appears in the doorway, trying his best to mock-avoid Mom. "Goodnight, honey. Sweet dreams, and don't tell your mother." Riley laughs a little, and Dad fake-shushes Riley. Riley only laughs harder, and soon, Mom is in the doorway, sashaying up to Dad.

"So THERE you are! I was worried you ran away," Mom said jokingly. At this, the laughter died. "Too soon," Mom mumbles under her breath. "Anyway, goodnight, honey. Sweet dreams." Mom kisses Riley on the head, followed by Dad, and they both walk out the room, playfully shoving each other. Riley then fell asleep.

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 **Hey guys, an author's note on an archived story. Now, on the subject of "Switched," I personally apologize for not updating that in a while. I've been having a lot of issues. Not only am I going through writer's block, not only am I having trouble continuing the plot, but I'm also trying to scrap together a perfect plot for a standalone novel. Anyway, thanks for your patience.**


	6. Chapter 6

Joy sat down on the couch that lay to the left of the console and sighed. It was a long day that she was sure nobody enjoyed (save Anger, who at least got to attack Fear in some way.) "Okay, everyone, I'm on dream duty tonight, so get some shut-eye. Things will be better tomorrow!" Joy gave the most sincere smile she could muster, given she was emotionally drained (Joy wondered if she was even really Joy anymore.)

All the other emotions casually walked up the ramp and into the seemingly small building that is their home. Joy brought a chair up to the console, silently wondering what was going on at Dream Productions.

Riley is sitting on the bus, much like the one she was on before everything was fixed. The only difference was, this Riley wasn't moving; she simply sat there and stared out the window as the bus rolled through the city. It was then that a man sat next to her. He wore a black leather coat and dark jeans. Despite the warm weather of San Francisco, the man still shivers.

"Hi," Riley says, interested in passing the time while the bus was riding out of California and up to Minnesota.

"Hi," the man casually grunted. He had a low gruff voice, and he didn't seem in the mood for talking, but Riley knew how to change that.

"So where are you going?" Riley asked, optimistic to start a conversation.

"I'm going up to Minnesota to do some business. My work is making me go everywhere. In fact, I just came up from Mexico City and I thought I wouldn't live to see San Francisco. I'm here though, and it's relatively cold." The man chuckled, casually answering the unspoken question that was trapped in the back of Riley's head.

"That's cool. What do you do?" Riley asked, now interested in the strange man.

"Well, I work as a business executive, and I've been going around and doing a few meetings for the past couple months. It's a bunch of business talk, and I'm sure that it would bore you. What are you doing on this bus?"

Riley silently kicked herself for not laying low, nervous that the man will turn her in. Despite this, she stays honest for the man. "I'm running away to Minnesota to start a new life. For most of my life, I lived there, and it's where I became myself. Ever since my parents moved to San Francisco, I've almost felt empty inside, and I want to re-establish who I am by going up there." Riley slowly became more confident of her choice with each word she spoke. The man, now worried, looked at Riley. He had brown eyes; just like Dad.

"Why can't you do that here? Things are different here, yes, but that just means more opportunity. You seem like a smart girl, and I know you could probably find a way to fight through all of this. After all, what could Minnesota do for you if you don't have your mom and dad with you? Look, I'm not going to change your mind, but if you want to stay here, I suggest getting off soon."

Riley pondered what the man said for a second. Joy could only guess what she was thinking. After a minute of Dream-Riley's emotions arguing, she gets a determined look on her face. "Thank you," Riley wanted to address the man, but she then realized that she didn't know the man's name.

"My name's Merrick. You're welcome." The man gets up, so as to let Riley out of her seat.

"Riley. It was nice meeting you, Merrick."

"It was a pleasure, Riley." Riley looked at the man one last time, and suddenly, the man was seemingly absorbed by nothingness. The dream had ended, but Riley was still asleep.

"That's just great," Joy said sarcastically. "I really don't like it when Dream Productions can't keep up their dreams; it bores us AND Riley." Joy softened a little from her uncharacteristic rant and got up to look at the new core memory. All of the four colors blended perfectly with each other. Fear of the consequences; Anger at herself; Sadness in shame; Joy in love. Joy played the memory again. Unlike most memories, this one carried out over a few minutes, and Joy wondered why so.

She slipped silently to the back of Headquarters and pulled a manual out of one of the bookshelves. Joy had never actually read a manual, and only ever touched one when handing one to Sadness. Joy opened up the manual she had picked out. It was the newest manual, given it had the largest number. Joy read the title, "Manual 38, Mixed Memories." Joy looked quizzically at the manual, wondering if there's more behind it. Joy quietly opens up the manual.

 _Mind Manual 38, Mixed Memories_

 _What are Mixed Memories?_

 _Mixed memories are when a memory is multi-colored by different emotions. Typically, a mixed memory only carries 2 different emotions, but can be a mix between all 5 emotions on rare occasions. Often, they are caused by a connection between emotions, mixing together to create new, different emotions._

 _I.E. Anger + Fear = Regret_

 _Why Now?_

 _Mixed memories usually take place when two or more emotions work together to make a new emotion, but why is this such a new connection? Emotions are often brought together after a traumatic incident, such as a close family death or even moving._ (Joy sighed at this, somewhat relieved that what happened was normal)

 _Emotions are usually, if not, always brought closer together shortly after a strange period known as the Impulse Period, where one emotion (Usually Sadness) or more is more inclined to express their specific feeling of the situation simply through instinct or impulse. They are unstoppable, and no amount of being locked away or secluded will stop them_

Joy pauses, thinking about the Circle of Sadness that Joy had made for said emotion, suddenly realized why Sadness did these things. She was drawn to it by the unnatural force that is the Impulse Period. Joy continued reading, intrigued.

 _The Impulse Period usually comes after a traumatic moment (see above). The after-effects, however, still bring the emotions closer together, and from this, mixed memories can be made. This is not abnormal, as emotions slowly become more subdued and controlled, organizing themselves to get jobs done quicker. Now is the time where an agenda is suggested in the minds of ambitious people_

 _Are Mixed Memories Better?_

 _A question initially asked by many is, "Are mixed memories better than their non-mixed counterparts?" You may notice that the first few mixed memories you make turn out to be core memories. This is good, as mixed memories are more complex and much stronger than primary emotions (emotions with only one color.) This is because anybody who has ever made a mixed memories has come to terms with the fact that five emotions are extremely constraining and mixing emotions is often better for the person they inhabit._

 _Emotion Combination Archive:_

 _Joy + Sadness = Bitter-sweetness_

 _Joy + Fear = Anticipation_

 _Joy + Disgust = Guilty Pleasure_

 _Joy + Anger = **Not Found**_

 _Sadness + Fear = Shame_

 _Sadness + Disgust = **Not Found**_

 _Sadness + Anger = Self-hatred (Small chance of creating Depression, an emotion that replaces Sadness, while Anger is left null, having little to no control on how the host feels.)_

 _Fear + Disgust = Horror_

 _Fear + AngerRegret_

 _Disgust + Anger = Annoyance_

Joy looked quizzically at the holes in the facts. Surely, the mind manuals would know this kind of stuff.

But then again, Joy barely knew anything of it. What would Sadness and Disgust make? Do they really want to know the outcome? Joy sat there for another minute before realizing that she was still on dream duty. She walked back to the console, now knowing what may be very important in helping Riley overcome this. Dream Productions was back on track and "I'm Stuck In Place 3" was playing.

Joy sat down, interested in a good nightmare. She didn't especially enjoy when Riley was having a bad dream, but most of the time, Joy can sit down and comfortably watch Riley try and run away from a pursuing dog. Joy only hoped that Riley isn't too uncomfortable. When the dog finally made to Riley, it ran around her a few times. At this, the dog splits into two and starts confusedly chasing itself.

"Okay, that's just mean. I'm shutting this off." Joy was about to retreat under the console, but a myriad of bright colors caught her attention. Joy looked up to the screen, a terrified look on her face.

"Hi, Riley. Remember me?" A perfect recreation of Bing B0ng said, standing in front of Riley and keeping his distance. The dog was gone.

"Bing B0ng," Joy practically gasped under her breath.

"I see you're stuck there. I know just what to do." Bing B0ng reached into his infinite bag and pulled out a seemingly infinite collection of rope. "This should do."

Bing B0ng took the rope and started to wrap it around Riley's feet, temporarily going out of view. "You've gotten huge, but don't worry. I refurbished our rocket, and now it's much bigger." Bing B0ng said, finally tying a knot at her ankles. He gently pulled the rope, keeping a hand behind Riley's head so it doesn't hit the ground. Riley's feet come off the ground and into Bing B0ng's arms.

"You still know our song, right?" Suddenly, Riley's voice came on, voiced by the magnificent Russel Williams. Joy always wondered how he manages to replicate her voice.

"Who's your friend who likes to play?" she starts

"Bing B0ng! Bing B0ng!" Bing B0ng finishes. "So glad you remembered. I was afraid I was going to have to teach it to you again." Bing B0ng brought Riley to a red wagon that features a striking resemblance to the old rocket, only bigger. Bing B0ng gently laid Riley down in the front, and she grasped the front handlebar of the wagon, waiting for Bing B0ng to get in.

Once Bing B0ng was securely in the back and gave the okay to Riley, they counted to three. "Who's your friend who likes to play?" The two said simultaneously, and the rocket wagon burst off with the speed of a jet. It flew through the streets of San Francisco, soaring out over the buildings and getting a full view of the Californian city. Riley maneuvered the wagon around a little bit, doing a few loops and even driving through the Gold Gate Bridge.

Finally, after a little playing around, Riley pushed back on the handlebar, sloping the wagon upwards. She carefully aimed towards the white circle in the sky; the moon. "You know, I was really planning this trip. First, I was thinking we could go have a picnic; I heard moon cheese is really good. Then, maybe we could do some skiing down the craters. After that, well, I think we could kind of just watch Earth. Maybe we can see Mount Everest from there." Bing B0ng continued with the Agenda for their trip. Meanwhile, Riley was mainly focusing on getting them to the moon, singing loudly.

The trip took a few minutes (Bing B0ng really souped up the wagon,) and Riley was able to successfully land on the moon, safely getting out and helping Bing B0ng out. "So, what happened to the other wagon?" Riley questioned.

"Well, it's a long story, and I think it's best that it's kept quiet." Bing B0ng winked toward Riley, making Joy jump out of her seat.

"What? Was that for me?" Joy said, keeping her voice a quiet hush. Was he alive? Joy wondered, quietly pondering it, as Bing B0ng put a picnic blanket on the ground and cut a chunk of moon-cheese out of the ground. He took a bite into a bit of cheese he ripped out of the chunk.

"Mm, it's even better than I thought it would. Here have a taste," Bing B0ng said, handing the chunk to Riley. Riley took a bit out of the cheese and ate it. A variety of amazing tastes filled Riley (and Joy's) mouth.

Bing B0ng and Riley continued to have their picnic on the moon. After a lot of delicious moon-cheese, the two walked around on the moon and found an especially big crater. "I don't know, Bing B0ng. Isn't this a little dangerous?"

"Are you kidding me? We're on the moon! If we fall, it won't even hurt because gravity is so low." Bing B0ng got out a load of equipment and laid it down. "Okay, so we have your skiing clothes, the skis, and I think that's it. I'll be right next to you if you want to stop, but this will be fun." Bing B0ng got out a pair of ski's suited for his size and fastened himself into them. Riley did the same and the two walked to the edge of the crater, looking down into the massive hole.

"Ready?" Bing B0ng counted down from 3 with his fingers. "Go!" The two almost flew down the steep side of the crater, interweaving each other as if they had planned it. Riley found a ledge and ramped off of it, doing at least 15 back-flips before landing on the ground again.

Riley screamed with pleasure much more than with fear, and suddenly, Joy realized why she heard the scream that night. It was because Riley was having A BLAST! Joy smiled brightly at how well Sadness had handled dream duty, and quietly shunned herself again for not trusting her enough.

The two continued to ski down the crater, occasionally doing a crazy trick. Riley was having fun, and it seemed to end all too soon when they came to the bottom. Riley laughed happily and twirled around a bit before falling on the floor of the crater. Bing B0ng followed, and soon, they were both staring at the Earth. "Thank you so much, Bing B0ng. I've never had so much fun in my life." Riley said, looking, ecstatic, up at the Earth with a searching look on her face. "Do you see Everest yet?"

"I think I found it, but I can't tell. Everything is so small from up here." Bing B0ng sat up and looked at Riley. "I'm glad that you had fun. I had fun too, Riley." He stood up and started climbing back up the side of the crater.

"Come on, we need to get back before you wake up. Other wise, you never know what can happen." Riley sat up and looked quizzically at Bing B0ng.

"Wait. You mean, this is all a dream?"

"Well, yeah. I thought you were aware of that. You know, lucid dreaming and what-not."

"No, I didn't know." Riley got up, a few tears brimming her eyes. Despite this, she wiped her eyes and got up. "I suppose I can say goodbye when we get back."

"That's the spirit!"

The two climbed back up the side of the crater quietly, as Riley wasn't quite sure how to take it. They made it to the top and walked back to the rocket. "Come on. We don't have much time left." Bing B0ng urged, helping Riley into the wagon. "Who's your friend who likes to play?"

Nothing

"Hmm. Give me a second." Bing B0ng got out of the wagon and went around back "I still haven't quite finished the wagon, so let me just do a little tinkering back here." Bing B0ng shook one of the brooms a little. "Okay, give me a note."

"La."

Nothing

"Hmm. OH! I know! Let's try this..." Bing B0ng turned around a few other things "Okay, this should wo-" The wagon rocketed off, leaving Bing B0ng dazed on the ground. Riley wasn't singing though, and even as she tried to maneuver the rocket, it didn't seem to work at all. Riley looked back at Bing B0ng, who was quickly zooming away from her view. "REMEMBER ME!" He screamed, but Riley barely heard him. Bing B0ng then slightly smiled and waved, saying something that Riley couldn't hear. Riley waved back, and her and the wagon sped back to Earth at an incredible speeed.

Riley quickly wondered how she was possibly going to land the rocket, and started to panic as she was quickly speed to Earth. She tried everything, finally jiggling a little at one of the brooms on the back. At this, the wagon stopped, and she was slowly going into Earth's atmosphere. Riley panicked a little more, but calmed herself. She took the infinite bag, which Bing B0ng had put in the back, and waited tensely for San Francisco to come into view.

As the ground sped towards her, Riley jumped quickly off of the wagon and held out the infinite bag. The air caught in the bag and provided a parachute for Riley. Riley heard a noise and, looking up, noticed that things were falling through to adjust to gravity. Riley panicked even more as small things began to fall out, things like golf balls and money. Riley knew that Bing B0ng carried a sink in his bag, though, and didn't know if she could hold on if she were hit by that.

Light bumping turned to pain as strange orbs fell out of the bag, hit Riley on the shoulders and hurting her; she thinks she might have dislocated. Suddenly, a shoe fell out and hit Riley's arm. She lost her grip on one of the straps and was quickly thrust to the side as the wind blew Riley and the bag further out. Riley was now roughly a few hundred feet above the ground, and she could see her house from where they were.

A sink then fell out of the bag and the faucet grazed the same arm, making a deep gash in it. Riley screamed in pain, and nearly let go with her other arm. She just had to hold on for another moment and she'd be safe. The final object in the bag, a cat, fell out and grabbed onto Riley's arm. Riley finally let go of the bag and was new falling to the ground beneath her, a cat attached to her arm. Riley, in a quick decision, grabbed the cat from her arm and held it out, feet first. Riley and the cat sped to the ground, and Riley closed her eyes, hoping it would work.

Riley opens her eyes and looks around, but she wasn't on the streets of San Francisco. She was in her bed, and the alarm just went off. Riley sighed and pushed the alarm button, disappointed that she was cut off at the last moment. She tried to remember that strange thing that took her to the moon, but she couldn't quite get a hold on it. She shrugged it off and tiredly walked downstairs and into the kitchen.

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 **Sorry for the weird censoring I did on Bing B0ng's name, and I'm sure that bugs a ton of you, but I can't view the chapter if I don't censor the name. Darn monitoring software doesn't like that word, so of course, I can't view the word 'b0ng' unless I spell it like that. Sorry for the inconvenience.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey guys. Nothing wrong with me. No depression, no writer's block. Just lack of internet. Sorry! Anyway, here's the chapter.**

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Anger opened his eyes, annoyed; it's almost like he didn't get any sleep at all last night. Anger got out of bed, putting pressure on his back until he was met with the satisfying **CRACK** of his bones. He walked out of his room, not forgetting to punch his stress bag, which now had a picture of Fear's face plastered on it, per usual.

Anger, along with the other emotions, tiredly walked outside of their respective rooms and met in a group in the hall. "I could have sworn I heard Riley scream a few times last night," Anger said, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"I think Riley's having the same nightmare as the night before. I don't think anyone, even Joy, could make something positive of it," Sadness cut in, her hair as much of a mess as it could get. "I just hope she's holding up."

The four emotions walked out of the house to see Riley was already sitting at the table, eating toast (Anger made sure to kick Fear for that.) When searched for, though, Joy was not found anywhere.

"I hope she didn't leave. Imagine having to deal with ANOTHER disaster, right after Riley got better," Fear said, keeping his distance from Anger as they walked towards the ramp.

"Wait, I think I see her," Disgust says, pointing to a spot beneath the console.

There, under the console, lay Joy, her face hidden by her body, as she was turned away from the other 4 emotions.

"I can't believe she slept on the job. I know, for one, that I don't like Dream Duty, but someone's got to do it!" Anger rushed, frustrated, towards the console.

"I don't recommend that, Anger. I think she had a rough night." Sadness said, trudging behind him with Disgust and Fear.

Anger, still mad, didn't listen and kept forward. He made it to the console, yanked out the chair, and stopped when Joy rolled over, tears developing on the rims of her eyes.

"What?" Anger said, not sure whether to be furious or sympathetic. "Joy, what happened?"

Joy began to speak in rapid fire, hyperventilating. "Riley was being chased by a dog, and Bing B0ng took her to the moon, and they had moon-cheese, and they skied down a crater, and Riley was so happy and-"

"JOY!" Anger yelled, a mix between annoyance and concern. "I need you to calm down for us."

Anger righted the chair that he had thrown to the side and ushered Joy into it. She quietly sobbed a little among the other emotions, who looked shocked and worried at the same time. Finally, Joy took a deep breath and sat up in her chair.

"I failed to mention what happened down in the abyss the day Riley nearly ran away," Joy said, an almost guilty look on her face. However, if there was a shred of guilt in her, it was vastly outweighed by the confusion of the clashing emotions inside her.

"When Bing B0ng and I fell into the abyss, I tried to climb out, but to no avail. Shortly after failing, Bing B0ng nearly convinced me to give up. One thing he said, though, got me moving to find the rocket wagon that he had," Joy said, motioning to Sadness, who confirmed that there was, indeed, a rocket wagon.

"We tried twice to get to the top of the cliff using it, but it was too old to hold the both of us." Joy couldn't hold it any longer, and broke out into another collection of sobs. The other four emotions, understanding what happened, looked much sadder than they'd ever been in their life.

Sadness walked quietly behind Joy and put a supportive hand on her shoulder. "Joy, Riley needed you. Without you, you couldn't bring us back to Headquarters, and Riley would be on her way to Minnesota."

Joy got herself under control a little before speaking again. "I know, but all he wanted was to take Riley to the moon. In fact, as I saw him fade away, he told me to take her to the moon for him." Joy broke out in another rack of sobs.

The other emotions, still sympathetic, turned to see how Riley was doing. Riley, feeling ambivalent, was now finished with her breakfast and was collecting her bags. Disgust, who has been very quiet the past couple days, walked up in front of Joy and got down on one knee, trying her best not to get her dress dirty.

"Joy, we're going to give you a minute to collect yourself, but we need you today. Riley is going to be back at her school after running away, and we want her to be happy. Okay?"

Joy let a few more sobs pass and composed herself. "Okay, I'm good. Is she presentable?"

"She's perfect," Disgust said, standing up and proudly walking back to the console.

Joy wiped her eyes a little. "Fear, how are you on stranger watch?"

Fear looked back from where he was working at the console. "The most suspicious thing so far has been a stray cat."

"Ew!" Disgust said, pushing a button and making Riley divert her attention away from the decrepit creature.

Joy chuckled to herself, now feeling much better. "That's my gang," she said under her breath.

FAST FORWARD

Riley was now at school, situated at her desk, waiting for class to start. It seems that none of the students were keen on letting go of the fact that Riley had cried in class, as already, two of the more sensitive girls in class walked up to her and inquired worriedly.

"Are you okay?" One said.

"I'm sorry about the move," another said.

Anger was actually somewhat annoyed by the sympathy laid upon them.

"Why can't they just let the past pass?" Anger said, his arm leaning on the right side of the console, whilst Joy was at the center, controlling the responses.

"Come on Anger. You should know by now that, in order to counteract the effects of how BORING school is, they have to focus on every interesting thing that arises." Joy says, spinning a handlebar carelessly and pushing a few buttons, almost sliding from place to place as she worked her magic.

"I know, but it's just so aggravating how much a person can patronize us."

"Well, you _are_ Anger, so I'd imagine being angry is simply part of your healthy diet. However, if you are mad, I suggest taking a breather and reading your newspaper. Maybe you can try and find out what's happening in the rest of the body."

Anger grunted compliantly and trudged over to a sofa, making the newest copy of _Mind Reader_ appear in his hands as he sat down. Anger flipped quietly through the pages. "Ugh, I can't believe this! It seems whenever I read the obituaries, there's always thousands of dead cells." His slight outburst caught Joy off-guard, causing her to push a wrong button.

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"Now, class," started Mrs. Drake, the Math teacher, "Who can tell me the Order of Operations?" Riley, almost impulsively, threw her hand up into the air, jovially accepting the challenge. "Yes, Ms. Anderson?"

Riley took a deep breath before answering. "Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, and Subtraction." She put her hand down and calmed herself before resuming her work.

Mrs. Drake smiled, happy she has such a smart student, "That's correct, Ms. Anderson. Thank you." Riley sighed, almost feeling the class' eyes bore into her.

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"Joy, what was that for? You nearly got us into a corner," Fear spoke between pants after going berserk on the controls.

"I'm sorry! Anger startled me," Joy said, pointing to Anger, who was now enveloped in his newspaper.

"Oh, by the way, local news suggests that we're undergoing a case of the shakes. I wonder why," Anger said, giving Fear the evil eye.

"Is there anything else, Anger?" Joy asked.

"It looks like a strange phenomenon is taking place in Riley's right foot. It says she's reached a bodily record in taps per second." Anger said calmly, not even diverting his attention to Fear.

"Good for her!" Joy says, subtly trying to cheer the gang up. Attention is brought back towards Riley, as she was torn between feeling proud and feeling embarrassed.

Riley sat quietly for the rest of first period, listening to Mrs. Drake drone on and on about something Riley was certain she understood. This helped little in calming Anger down, but he continued to read the newspaper, occasionally giving out snippets of news from below the brain. Finally, first period let out, and Riley was in the hall.

"OFF TO SCIENCE!" Joy yelled jubilantly, mock-marching around Headquarter. Anger sighed and stuck his face further into his newspaper, annoyed. The headline now read " **TRYING TOO HARD.** "

Riley contentedly made her way through the crowds of people that were standing around and talking to their friends... in the middle of the hall.

"School is apparently just the place where you teach kids how to start traffic jams," Anger said, annoyed at the constant blockade that was their peers. Anger walked forward and pushed a button, coaxing Riley to push a little more forcefully when traversing the halls. Joy frowned when Riley got a few more hostile looks as she traveled to her next class.

"It's not like we're the ones at fault here, right? After all, you could at least wait until AFTER school," Joy said, convincing herself that Anger's influence is justifiable.

"Okay, quiet down, everyone, we have a lot to do today," said Mrs. Smith, the science teacher, dubbed 'the school's fossil.' Now in her late 60's, the old woman is very sweet and caring, and Riley seems like the only person who respects her politeness.

Anger was tired of 'his' peers' incessant chatting, "First the halls, now this! I have half a mind to yell at every single kid in this class."

Joy rushed to the console before Anger could pull out a chair. "Now Anger, we have to keep our cool."

Disgust chimed in, "If we freaked out, everyone would think we have problems."

Anger wasn't ready to give in, however. "They're the ones with problems. Mrs. Smith is a kind woman, and I hate to see these ######### chatter on and on about how much of a whore Miley Cyrus is."

Joy was having plenty enough with Anger. "Anger, please. Not now. Not the same week we nearly ran away."

Anger only became more furious. "Oh, so it's suddenly my fault!"

Joy looked bewildered. "What?! What are you talking about?"

A delirious grin grew on Anger's face. "You're trying to make _me_ look like the bad guy by bringing in the 'Anger nearly made us run away' card. Well, you know what, Joy, you can go-"

"ENOUGH!" Yelled Mrs. Smith, who quickly composed herself, but kept a stern glare on her students. "You think you can just waltz into my classroom and start chatting away? Well, in my 40 years of work in teaching, I've never had such an irresponsible set of students. We are a month into school, and we need to stop talking and start thinking; close your mouths and open your ears. Do I make myself clear?"

The class responds with silence.

"Good, now open your textbooks to page 45 and start reading, and please only read," Mrs. Smith got up and walked directly to Riley's desk.

"Oh no, are we in trouble? We can't be in trouble, Riley's the only person who didn't talk," Fear ranted, breaking the shocked silence left by Mrs. Smith's rage-induced speech.

Sadness cleared her throat a little bit, trying to loosen the ever-present knot in her throat. "I'm sure we're fine. What bugs me though is how someone so nice can yell like that."

Fear's mind was on other things, "Not important; we are in trouble, people!" Fear pushed a button on the console, causing an alarm to blare. Surprisingly, no one stopped him as he sprinted from end to end of the console, pushing a myriad of buttons in worry, making Riley undergo all the signs of anxiety.

Mrs. Smith came closer to Riley's desk, her movement slowed by old age. As she approached Riley's desk, it seemed Riley was going to run straight out of the room, she look so scared.

"Now, Riley, don't be afraid. I only just wanted to come by to thank you on being so polite. It looked like you were going to have an outburst," Mrs. Smith said, laughing.

Riley allowed herself to calm down a little, relieved that she wasn't in trouble. "Thank you," she said, an unusually small voice, humbly accepting a compliment.

Anger didn't like this. "Fear, you ############! Let her speak!"

Fear flinched and quickly backed away from the console. "Joy, maybe you should take the wheel for the rest of class." Joy obliged, walking to the console and pushing a few buttons, coaxing a smile onto Riley's face. She opened up her textbook and flipped to page... what was it?

Joy's lips tightened a little in mild annoyance when she pushed a button on the console, attempting to recall a memory, and nothing happened.

Anger groaned. "Great, you shocked the recall tubes. Great going, Fear. You are such an important person." Fear shrunk slightly at the sarcastic quip.

Joy had quite enough with Anger. "Look, Anger, either you stop berating Fear, or you shut your mouth and read your newspaper."

"Now that is an attack on free speech if I've ever seen one!" Anger screamed. Despite this, Anger just grumbled a little more and sat down at the couch, pulling out a copy of The Mind Reader, the headline reading, ' **Innocent Emotion Stripped of his Rights**.' "And this is why I read this and not that piece of crap newspaper, 'The Riley Times.'" Anger mumbled, appreciative of the support.

The tubes started working again, and Joy collected the page number. "Page 45," Joy mumbled, pushing a button. Riley opens to page 45 and starts reading the chapter on the different states of particles.

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	8. Chapter 8

"The Rest, Inside Out" Review and Reply Archive

Take my advice says:

"I found this to star off as a very interesting story with it starting right after the movie ends. Although the main story looks good, the presentation wasn't so swell. The way it says things like "Sadnesses' thoughts" and "Riley's thoughts" seems very amateur in writing style. I would prefer being able to tell the way they're feeling in italics and being given in large dumps like that had. And the the "thoughts" felt very forced like you are trying to force exposition into us. Or putting eight inches, and I say "I can't take more". If you take your time to learn and Improve on things like these. You will be able to "show not tell". That concludes my thoughts on your story so far. I hope you write more and touch up on these key points. Farewell, hope to see more!

-Take my advice"

I replied:

Thank you, Tma, for giving such a thorough review. Before I start, I'll just say that the first 6 chapters were written and uploaded during Summer, and then I took them down when I couldn't continue the story. I have moved on from such a silly form of writing and have moved to a much different style, one I think you would approve of, structurally. Exposition, of course, is a cancer that should be dealt with in every story, and again, I apologize for being so inept when I wrote this. Most of this stuff will die out around chapter 3, so it won't be long, trust me. You'll get a better feel of my current writing style when I upload the first chapter of "Switched" next week. Until then, try to endure my awful writing. :)

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seija TMA (guest) says:

"Your writing style has improved substantially since when you first wrote this story, your writing at the moment is great and there is nothing I would have changed about this chapter. I hope you don't get writers block and continue to make chapters. Don't overdue it though. I wouldn't want you to be burnt out.

-Take my advice"

I replied:

There's not I much can say other than thank you for your great review. I actually don't have a big stress when it comes to deadlines right now, as chapters 1 to 7 of The Rest, Inside Out are already totally written, so I only have to worry about Switched until April.

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Supreme-Chickenlord says:

"By the way, there's a divider in the formatting options that you can use instead of 'IIIIII'.

Trust me, it's much easier to format with."

I replied:

It isn't a problem, Chickenlord. All of TRIO has been done in advance, and I won't be utilizing the line of I's much more in the next few chapters. I scrapped the whole "Joy's thoughts" thing around chapter 4. Anyway, it really isn't a significant inconvenience, and you'll see why it's much more useful than the Shift+Enter line.

* * *

BobGamer445 says:

"Ascorbic acid vitamin C"

I reply:

I suppose you're referring to Fear's look through the nutritional facts on the cereal box? I don't really know how to respond to this. Ehh... thank you?

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Lord Candycane says:

"Hm, this sounds interesting. I want to see what'll happen now that Riley's back home."

I reply:

Thank you so much for looking at my story. It definitely makes me feel better to see such a big writer in the community compliment my work.

Lord Candycane also says:

"Aw, heartwarming moments between Riley and her parents.

Also, I get the feeling Joy may not fully trust Sadness yet."

I reply:

You will see more heartwarming moments between Riley and her parents yet to come. As for Joy's mistrust, it's more so getting used to things than it is actual mistrust. There has to be a transition period and this is it.

Lord Candycane ALSO says:

"Whoa, I did not expect Anger to swear. That was a... pretty big surprise for me."

I reply: Well, we always here Anger bragging about his collection of curse words, and since this is supposed to be an uncut version of Riley's daily life, we're going to see him drop a few bombs. Probably could've saved the F-bomb for a later chapter though.

Lord Candycane ALSO says:

"I've never heard of that third definition for "whore". Huh. I take it that was a joke?"

I reply:

What can I say? I like to throw in a few jokes here and there. They may not be good, but they're something.

Lord Candycane ALSO says:

"Aw, that was a heartwarming moment between Riley and her parents."

I reply:

I'm trying to make a few miniature crisis between Riley and her parents without being totally melodramatic. Glad people are agreeing with what is there.

Lord Candycane ALSO says:

"Huh, I would've thought you could make something out of Sadness and Disgust. But I don't know what it is."

I reply:

Steevles actually does a really good job with that, but I don't agree with him wholeheartedly when it comes to mixed emotions. Some of the combinations are a little odd.

Lord Candycane ALSO says:

"Wow, Riley's smart. I could never get that order right.

And yeesh, Anger really likes abusing Fear."

I reply:

Riley being smart is something I should probably stray from. Don't want to inadvertently make a Mary Sue out of her. However, I never had trouble remembering it, being a math geek myself.

On the subject of Anger's abuse, I feel like I was pushing it too far in this chapter. I suppose that he just had a bad night, but that really isn't an excuse.

Lord Candycane ALSO says upon discovering the Review and Reply Archive:

"Ah, a full on response. This is new, indeed. I didn't know I was such a "big writer" :)"

I reply:

Yep. I actually got the idea from your method of replying to reviews. It also sort of acts as a Q and A in the right circumstances. Easily the best part of writing. If you've run out of chapters to review, you can also pm me and I can also add that to the archive (with your consent, of course.)

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MrScourch says:

"Well, I only wish I had that kind of presence of mind in most of MY dreams.

I would imagine the missing emotions are vengeful/scorn/righteous (it's a bit hard to pin down) and pity for angerjoy and sadnessdisgust respectively.

I find your writing style to be a little too... direct? for my tastes, but I'm sure that will improve with time.

I'm interested to see where this story goes, keep it up. (As life allows, of course.)"

I reply:

Hi, MrScourch!

On the subject of lucid dreaming, it usually takes weeks of training for yourself to fully do it. This is, however, a random fanfic on some site, so the power of Bing B0ng is capable of doing this. (I censor Bing B0ng because my internet monitoring service doesn't like the word. FML.)

On the subject of missing emotions (missing from the story, I assume you mean,) I'm unsure of what you're referring to. Please elaborate.

About my writing style, it is indeed direct. I'm just trying to write in the best way I can, and there's always going to be a dud here or there."

MrScourch also says:

"Well, Anger DOES provide an excellent way to get through the day when you don't have the energy to do it happily. In other words, Riley is clearly tired.

As to the missing emotions I mentioned before, I meant the missing combinations in the mind manual. Sadness and disgust should make pity, I'm pretty sure. Anger and Joy is a bit harder, and probably subject to interpretation. (I read Steevles' story, but I don't actually remember most of the combinations.)

I reply:

I guess the lucid dream took more out of Riley then she was hoping for.

Thanks for the clarification, by the way. I understand what you mean now.


End file.
